Housing

Schaaf’s Proposals for Building Affordable Housing on Public Land Challenged

Published

8 years ago

August 1, 2018

Community activists and others are raising concerns about whether the latest affordable housing proposals backed by Mayor Libby Schaaf’s administration would even make a dent in the wave of gentrification and displacement that is remaking the city right in front of their eyes.
Looking at the basic numbers, one of the most contentious issues in the city staff’s proposal is how many affordable units can be built on available public land.

The administration’s report claims that there are only 20 parcels available for housing development and that six of those need to be sold to market rate developers in order to subsidize affordable housing on the remaining 14 parcels. promising only 746 units in the price range that many Oaklanders could afford.

That number of potential units seems like a pittance to affordable housing advocates who point to the magnitude of the crisis—the unending surge of homelessness, and the huge numbers of seniors, young workers, teachers and city workers who are being forced out of the city.

The Schaaf administration proposal acknowledges the City owns over 1,000 parcels of land, but says only 20 of them are suitable for residential housing.
Of those 20 buildable parcels, totaling 24 acres, 14 would be utilized for affordable housing. Of the remaining six parcels, one would be sold for market-rate housing, totaling 492 units, and five be sold for market-rate commercial development, according to staff.

However, there are reports that show there is significantly more public land available, and many more units could be built on those properties, according to Margaretta Lin of the Dellums Institute for Social justice.

A former Deputy City Administrator, Lin led the work on the city’s Housing Equity Roadmap plan in 2014 that was adopted by the City Council in Fall 2015.
Lin said two reports show there are “50 publicly owned vacant or underutilized parcels that the City’s Housing Element identified as suitable for housing development, which could produce over 7,300 new housing units.”

The city owned 36 of these parcels which are capable of producing over 3,600 housing units per the City’s Housing Element, and other public agencies own the other 14, she said. However, the City sold one of those parcels, capable of producing 25 units, in January 2018 to what appears to be a market rate developer. (The reports are available at www.dellumsinstitute.org/community-justice-data/)

“We commissioned the two public land reports from UC Berkeley Public Policy and City Planning in 2015 because none of the City departments had a full list of City owned land. With the departure of Claudia Cappio who was briefed on this information, the City administration may be lacking complete information,” she said.

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said city staff makes two separate mistakes in estimating how many affordable units can be built.

“They are undercounting the number of suitable parcels that the city owns, and their estimate is way lower than the number of units that could be built on them,” said Kaplan.

Another major contentious issue is how to pay for construction of affordable housing. City staff wants to sell public land to market-rate developers to pay for affordable housing development.

The “staff strategy assumes” utilizing market-rate development on the six parcels in order to generate revenue to pay for “100 percent affordable housing for the other 14 sites,” said Mark Sawicki, director of Economic and Workforce Development Department, speaking on behalf of the Schaaf administration at last week’s Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee meeting.

The number of affordable units is constrained by the availability of funding, according to Sawicki’s report. Building 100 percent affordable units on the 20 parcels would increase the total number of possible units on the 20 parcels to 1,080, but it would take 10 to14 years to raise the $112 million needed to cover construction costs.

Staff’s proposal, on the other hand, would only cost the city $6 million (plus the sale of six parcels of land), which could be raised in three to four years, he said.

The question of funding, said Lin, depends on how the city defines the problem and the solutions.

“If the public policy problem is defined as a State of Emergency especially for people who are the working poor and/or newly homeless, then we would utilize every resource available, especially public lands,” she said.

But the traditional funding model does not work when “it costs $500,000 to $650,000 to build one housing unit, and the City needs to provide $150,000 to $165,000. Instead, if the City looked at new innovative housing development and financing models, such as new and attractive mobile homes that cost $35,000 a unit, that other communities are deploying, then the (costs)math would be completely different,” said Lin.

Councilmember Kaplan, a longtime supporter of utilizing public property for affordable housing, says the staff “strategy” proposal does not consider other sources of funding: the city’s Measure KK, Alameda County’s A1 housing bond where Oakland is anticipated to receive over $200 million for affordable housing, impact fees, new State housing funds, and foundation grants.

“If they need to sell parcels, why not sell some of those that can’t be used for housing?” Kaplan asked.
Another issue that deeply concerns affordable housing advocates is whether the staff’s strategy would have teeth or would result in something the administration could modify or ignore as wished.

After meetings between staff and housing advocates on developing an affordable housing policy dragged on for almost two years, city staff announced a few months ago that they were no longer interested in passing a policy, instead proposing a “strategy” on how to utilize the 20 parcels of land.

“The mayor and the people who work for her have been trying to kill the policy all along,” said Councilmember Kaplan. “Even if we adopt a strategy, we need a policy,” she said.

The desperate need is for the City Council to adopt a binding public lands policy, said Lin.
According to Lin, as of December 2017, “there were 20,000 market-rate housing units under construction or in the pipeline, compared with less than 1,500 affordable units.”

“We’re in Oakland’s worst housing crisis in its entire history,” she said. “And affordable housing developers are having a hard time competing with market rate developers for access to land.

“An equity-based public land policy would solve this access to land problem. Market-rate housing developers don’t need public resources. They’re doing fine.”

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In Wake of Death on Doorstep, Williams Chapel Baptist Church Calls for Better Care, Funding for Unhoused

An unhoused individual was found deceased on the steps of Williams Chapel Baptist Church in East Oakland at approximately 6:30 a.m. Monday. The church, located at 1410 10th Ave., extended condolences to the individual’s family, noting the tragedy reflects a broader crisis. Williams Chapel Baptist Church provides shelter and referral services, working with West Side Missionary Baptist Church. They call for increased funding and collaboration to expand services for unhoused individuals. Read more to learn about the church’s efforts and the call for solutions.

Published

1 week ago

September 27, 2026

Post News Group

Oakland Police and emergency vehicle arrive to Williams Chapel Monday morning. Courtesy photo.

By Special to The Post

Church extends condolences to individual’s family and loved ones

At approximately 6:30 a.m. Monday, an unhoused individual was found deceased on the steps of Williams Chapel Baptist Church, located at 1410 10th Ave. on the corner of 10th and International in East Oakland.

The individual appears to have come to the church seeking safety and may have needed medical support. We extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the individual’s family and loved ones.

This tragedy reflects a broader crisis affecting unhoused individuals and families throughout the Bay Area. Too many people are living without reliable shelter or timely access to medical care, mental health support, and other essential services. Limited funding and insufficient resources continue to leave vulnerable people without the help they need.

Williams Chapel Baptist Church, a member of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County, works alongside West Side Missionary Baptist Church to provide safe-haven overnight parking, tiny-home emergency shelter, and wraparound referral services to the unhoused.

With funding, both East and West Oakland sites can increase to full capacity and extend to other congregations, creating more safe places for people living on the streets to seek shelter, support, and connection to services.

We invite government agencies, nonprofit organizations, interfaith communities, businesses, and neighbors to join us in this work. By working together with compassion and purpose, we can develop meaningful solutions and help more people experiencing homelessness receive care, stability, and dignity.

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Commentary

Community Action Group ‘Friends of Zakiya’ Ask Sheriff for Time

“Friends and Neighbors of Zakiya,” a community group of more than 60 neighbors, friends and community activists, is standing strong with Jendayi. The group holds weekly vigils every Tuesday from 6 p.m.-7p.m. at Jendayi’s residence at 3614 Randolph Ave. in Oakland.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 22, 2026

Post News Group

By Tanya Dennis

Zakiya Jendayi received good news Monday, Sept. 14, when the appellate court ruled in her favor in the Hamlin v. Jendayi case, agreeing to hear the case on its merits regarding her motion to have Judge Sandra K. Bean’s ruling invalidated based upon Laura Dean Head’s living trust.

The bad news is that, at the time of this writing, the Sheriff’s Department was scheduled to evict Jendayi from her home yesterday.

The group is asking the community to join them and to make calls to Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, Attorney General Rob Bonta, Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez and DA Ursula Jones Dickson to stop what they deem the illegal eviction of Jendayi from her home of 13 years.

“I would hope that the Sheriff listens because, unlike the courts, my friends and neighbors have read the transcripts and seen for themselves the 42 findings that result in 35 false, six misleading, and one that is an error, which unbelievably the appeals court upheld.” says Jendayi. “With this new appeal, the court quite possibly will return my home to me, and so this makes no sense. The Sheriff is threatening to move forward to remove me before my appeal is heard.”

“This makes no sense,” says group member Rev. Raymond Langford. “She’s not a criminal, and she’s never had a criminal record. This situation has been horribly impactful on her physical and mental health. She’s now medically compromised due to all this stress, and all we’re asking for is time to see if the courts are in error. She should be given the opportunity for the appeal to be heard. That’s called justice, nothing more, nothing less.”.

Friends and Neighbors of Zakiya are organizing future protest actions to secure more time for Jendayi. They will be seen in front of the offices of Bonta, Simon and Sanchez, demanding that she have the opportunity for her case to be heard.

The Post is asking that the public join Friends and Neighbors of Zakiya and use the information listed to join in this fight for justice.

Friends and Neighbors of Zakiya asks you to sign the petition by activating the QR code below to enact a stay in Jendayi’s pending eviction from her home and to pursue a full and independent investigation into the ruling that invalidated Dr. Head’s trust.

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Business

Mayor Lee Announces $1 Million Kaiser Permanente Grant for Pilot Program to Address Homelessness, Clean Up Public Spaces throughout Oakland

Achieving these goals requires unified City operations backed by new philanthropic and private sector investments. With Kaiser Permanente’s support, this project brings together the Mayor’s office, City Administrator’s office, Office of Homelessness Solutions, Housing and Community Development, Human Services, and Economic and Workforce Development.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 21, 2026

Post News Group

By Special to The Post

Innovative initiative combines employment, housing support, job training, and case management to create permanent pathways out of homelessness

Mayor Barbara Lee announced on Tuesday a $1 million grant from a Kaiser Permanente fund at the East Bay Community Foundation to launch the Workforce Development and Interim Housing Pilot Project. The initiative combines low-barrier employment with housing support to strengthen Oakland’s homelessness response while cleaning public spaces throughout the city.

Grant funding provides recipients with:

Part-time paid work focused on citywide sanitation and trash clean up, with pathways to permanent, full-time employment
One year of interim housing support
Comprehensive job training and wrap-around supportive services
Tailored case management designed to transition participants into permanent housing

“This pilot program gives us an essential tool to drive change for all of our neighbors affected by homelessness, including our Black and African American population who are disproportionately impacted,” said Lee.

Data show that having a job is critical to housing stability and preventing homelessness. This pilot provides unhoused residents with job opportunities that keep public spaces throughout the City clean, directly supporting the mayor’s goal to reduce unsheltered homelessness in Oakland by 50%.

The pilot is modeled after a similar program in Portland, Oregon, that offers low-barrier employment in sanitation services and housing support to people experiencing homelessness. Program results include a high percentage of participants moving to temporary or permanent housing and cleaner public spaces.

“We’re proud to support this innovative project because it creates meaningful opportunities for people experiencing homelessness while strengthening the health and vitality of the entire Oakland community,” said Yvette Radford, vice president of external and community affairs for Kaiser Permanente Northern California. “By providing job training, paid employment, supportive services, and a pathway to stable housing, this program offers people the tools to move forward with dignity and hope—while creating cleaner, safer, and healthier public spaces for everyone.”

The Communications Department of the Oakland Mayor’s office is the source of this report.